Pick Your Power: Double Deck (GAME OVER)

[gerryoat]

I was doc on fish lol

[drealmerz7]

your behavior is actually what made me want to kill you, TWIE, I was like "what is he doing with this shit-talking? ohhh...he's trying to get SR / get left in the game, well that can't happen then!"

[gerryoat]

I shoulda been more suspect of vecna giving me fruit when I said I jad an allergy

[gigabyteTroubadour]

I shoulda been more suspect of vecna giving me fruit when I said I jad an allergy

nah i would have done that as town too

[Maxous]

Yeah, well done guys.

I think scum just outplayed town for most of the game.
Sometimes you just gotta put your hands up.

[drealmerz7]

scumbuds make sure you OK the PT release

[Lil Uzi Vert]

I'm cool with it.

[Quipla]

Speaking as Hoopla...

Firstly big thanks to Quilford for co-modding with me and bringing the setup to life with the sexy graphics and animations! Expect more projects from us in the future together!

Secondly, congrats to scum on a clinical win! Apart from Day 1, they were favourites for the entire game. A couple of questionable kills late in the game and town drawing good trump cards late in the game (Lights Out Lynching, Grey's Royalty Vig) gave them a brief opportunity of a comeback, but Vecna and drealmerz closed it out very professionally with gracious teamplay from the other members.

Vecna in particular I was very impressed with, and I think scum would have quite likely lost without him. drealmerz play in the endgame and the neighbourhoods was quite good, but I think his ego and confidence in his abilities and level of play is perhaps misplaced, particularly given the primary reason he was townread was based on him attempted to get the King of Diamonds - a card he mistakenly assessed pregame as a pro-scum card. I think if he didn't go for that card, he'd have come under pressure a lot more earlier in the game. Ultimately, mafia is a social game about having fun, and I hope he learns to be less abrasive with future scumpartners.

Titus, Fishy and giga were my top three town performers. Scum were particularly fortunate that Titus ended up getting vigged which allowed scum to escape the spotlight of her reads that a factional kill would have illuminated. Fishy and giga made some strong pro-town moves and were essentially unlynchable for the majority of the game. Fishy's wrong reads at the end of the game might sour his performance for some, but I think town wouldn't have even been that close without him.

Grey would have earned a vig shot on Night 8 if he survived the Day 7 lynch, which would have given him a 50/50 chance of shooting scum and really giving the town a good chance of winning. I think that missed opportunity and the Titus vig shot were the biggest momentum swings against the town during a game a big swings.

A big thanks to the rest of the players (and especially those who replaced in) in making this a fun and enjoyable game! Hopefully if/when we run a sequel sometime later in the year we see some repeat players!

[MariaR]

WOOHOO GOOD JOB SCUM WE DID IT

C-can I get out f-from under the b-bus now

Let them see the PT all good for me

[Quipla]

About the setup:

Pregame scum (in particularly drealmerz) thought the setup was overwhelmingly town-sided, but despite a poor draft order and not picking the most synergistic picks they were still in control for most of the game. In previous Pick Your Power games 17:5 is the tried and tested ratio that seems to work pretty well for the format. We decided to add a townie for the possibility of accelerated LYLO's where scum can kill during the Day which seemed like adequate compensation.

In hindsight, I think the scumkill mechanic was a poor one and the biggest flaw in the setup - something that will be rectified in future versions. It was intended to give the scumteam more flexibility with their kill to use in either phase, but really it was just a glorified daykill and created possible inelegant MYLO/LYLO situations.

On the surface it looks like there's an overwhelming amount of power that veers into role madness territory, but when say, 7 out 8 Kings get selected by players (which would be a very high-powered phase with 7 active powers), there's only one King in the deck to possibly trigger such a high-powered phase. The most likely trump cards are from ranks and suits that the least amount of players selected. This line of logic didn't seem too present in the game - scum in particular made subpar selections in my opinion by picking four aces, and doubling up on a lot of numbers and not spreading out across more ranks. Gerry's selections of two Kings was also weird as a King coming up trump would only enable to use one of his King powers anyway.

In general, I was surprised by how many people didn't understand the mechanics, especially early in the game. Towards the end of the game, it seemed like most people got it and there was some high level play and use of mechanics from some players that I was very impressed with. Future iterations of this setup will likely benefit from repeat players having familiarity with this game and helping guide newer players of the setup.

The draft aspect is always a very fun aspect of the game for me. When I played PYP games, selecting a pick above 10 was a sure fire way to secure you a unique number and land in the top 25% of the draft (though rarely first), but now it seems like meta is shifting and many people realise this and gambling on a low pick might be profitable. We really had a crazy amount of double/triple ups on numbers above 10. I think the best play is picking something above 30 to ensure your number is unique or gambling on something 1-9.

About the powers specifically;

I think the first change I'd make (other than making the scumkill a standard NK) is reducing the deck rigging's influence, as there was clearly too much potential for looping strategies shutting out many other powers in the game. Pregame Vecna came up with a clever looping strategy involving card revives and deck rigging which would have been a very pro-scum combination should they draft all the cards they needed - perhaps if scum got better draft positions they'd have tried to go for it. Another reason why I opted for an extra townie in this game was because there were a lot of great scum combinations available amongst the cards; Stealth Vig/Card Cop, deck-rigging Governor's and other pro-scum cards for example.

Another change I'd make is the Fruit Vendor/Fruit Allergy combos, which made Fruit Vendor's pseudo-vigs to the right players, but for the most part, players simply avoided drafting the Fruit Allergy cards like the plague. To improve, the Fruit Allergy's would need to be paired with more attractive rank powers, or perhaps be scrapped for something else.

Overall, a lot of time and effort was put into minimising paradoxes, ensuring some symmetry and providing interesting/balanced blends of powers no matter what trump came up. I've learnt a bunch from running this setup, and although a game being close isn't necessarily a sign that a game is fair for both sides, it's pleasant that the game didn't end in a scumsweep or town curbstomping scum - something distinctly possible when running a setup like this. Perhaps in an alternate universe, the right combination of trumps materialise to create a big win either way, but on the whole I'm pleased that both sides had a good chance of winning in this iteration.

[drealmerz7]

4 town lynches in 2Days = pro-scum card

[gigabyteTroubadour]

4 town lynches in 2Days = pro-scum card

yes but more kills decided by town means town gets the info it wants w/o losing as many strong players

[Quipla]

A little survey for those interested:

Which powers did you like/dislike?

Do you think the setup was within the realm of balanced and not favouring one side too heavily?

Would you play in a future version of this setup?

What new powers/modifiers would you like to see in future versions of this setup?

[gigabyteTroubadour]

will answer the survey when i'm home but consider me a pre-in for the next iteration of this!!

[Vifam]

Oh hey this ended

[gigabyteTroubadour]

Oh hey this ended

your random picks ended up being useful

good work

[MariaR]

Giga ily

[Quipla]

4 town lynches in 2Days = pro-scum card

Being results-oriented isn't the best way to determine how pro-town a card or a power is.

Unless you also want to make the argument that just one innocent from 6 Cops means that Cops are worse than Card Cops since they actually produced a guilty on scum.

[gigabyteTroubadour]

Giga ily

<3

this was definitely my favorite game of all time

and to think i was avoiding /inning for this game like the plague because of Undertale

[gerryoat]

yeah i shoulda asked more questions about selections pregame. picking two kings sucked

[Maxous]

I feel like protective roles were a little too useless, hoopla.
Only balance critique I would have

[Quipla]

I feel like protective roles were a little too useless, hoopla.
Only balance critique I would have

giga was saved from suicide by a Doc and scum White Maged Maria from being venged, so they had some small success, but I agree the Doctor cards should be reconsidered/given better suit powers to entice draftees, as they were largely avoided and could have made a difference early when scum were picking off the obv-towns.

[drealmerz7]

Lets post a lot so scum can complain again that theres too many pages to read.

^ that's a bit funny, but I'm not scum

I've got time now and am doing full catchup, will output my input before too long

btw I think vecna is scum from the perusings I've been doing

[kraska77]

oh yes props to fishy and giga for amazing play, they pulled town together

[gigabyteTroubadour]

oh yes props to fishy and giga for amazing play, they pulled town together

hey while grey uh

did his thing

you were actually pretty important too! your picks were pivotal for giving us a shot and I think the Jackel lynch was a good play.

kraska and rb deserve some props too, and creature had pretty close reads early on!